Dear Annie,
When I studied the animal bones from the Iron Age site of Otranto in
south-eastern Italy in 1991, I found, mixed with the archaeological
bones, four shark teeth probably Miocenic. Although it is not
impossible that they had ended up accidentally in the archaeologcial
assemblage (the area is rich in this type of fossils) I argued, on the
basis of the fact that the teeth were not embedded in the rock but
quite neatly cleaned, that it was more likely that they had been
extracted and used by the Iron Age people, perhaps as a curio or for
whatever other use.
The finds are mentioned in the following publication (alas, in
Italian)
Albarella, U. 1997. La fauna dell'abitato dell'eta' del ferro di
Otranto. In F. D'Andria (ed.). Metodologie di catalogazione dei beni
archeologici. Lecce, Bari: Martano, Edipuglia, pp.189-209.
Since the book is probably hard to find, if Sam is interested I can
send him (or her) a copy of the publication.
Cheers,
Umberto
-------------------
> Dear Colleagues
>
> I have just received the request below from a student. If anyone is
able to help, I should be grateful if you could let me have any
references etc.
>
> Annie Grant
>
>
> My title is; Fossils; How ancient cultures interpreted and used
them. What
> I am researching are occurences of fossils turning up in
archaeological
> contexts, where they have been either used to make jewellry, or used
in some
> ritual practice, or modified in some way.
>
> I'm having a lot of difficulty getting hold of relatively recent,
preferably
> unpublished sites, where such things have been found.
>
> I was just wondering whether you had come across any such occurences
when
> looking at archaeological sites, or if you new of anyone who would
have
> access to this kind of information.
>
> I know Im going out on a limb here,but I thought Id try asking.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Sam
>
> Dr Annie Grant
> Director, Educational Development and Support Centre
> Reader, School of Archaeology and Ancient History
> University of Leicester
> University Road
> Leicester LE1 7RH
> Tel: 0116 252 2716
> Fax: 0116 252 5111
>
Umberto Albarella
Dept of Archaeology
University of Durham
Durham DH1 3LE, UK
tel. +44-191-3741139
|